Avoid all the toxic and unnecessary junk found in traditional food dyes by using natural homemade food coloring that is really simple to make at home!
Pin How to Make Natural Food Coloring for later!
Yes. I write a "whole-food" blog.
Yes. I believe that processed foods should be avoided.
Buuuttt....
Yes. My kids enjoy the occasional yummy homemade treat made with white flour, tons of chocolate, and sugar that doesn't come from a coconut.
Are those things healthy? Of course not. BUT.. a piece of cake at a birthday party, a family Christmas cookie decoration session, an ice-cream cone on a Summer evening... I'm good with it. In fact, I'm more than good with it.. I look forward to it!
About a year ago I had an epiphany.. I stopped worrying about all the things that my family DOESN"T eat, and instead, focused on preparing meals and snacks that are full of things we DO eat (whole grains, greens and seasonal veggies, lean meats, healthy fats). It just feels more positive that way.
However, there is one thing I DON'T "treat" myself (or my kids) to... chemicals. Especially when those chemicals are derived from petroleum and tar. Yes, you read that correctly, annnnd yes... I wrote it there for a bit of dramatic effect. Forgive me?
You have probably guessed by now (based on the title of this post) that I am talking about artificial food dyes. The US consumes 15 million pounds of these chemicals each year and it's not just in colored icings. It's found in foods and personal health items that would never cross your mind to check. Think vanilla frosting, white sprinkles, shampoo, Lunchables, yogurt, and even brown cereals. IT. IS. EVERYWHERE.
With all that said, there is still 1 time a year that I am tempted to bury my head in the sand and head to the store to purchase a little dose of petroleum. Christmas. When it's the holiday season... I Want. It. All. Frosting, sprinkles, cut-out cookies. Like I said when I wrote this whole-food christmas cut-out cookie post, decorating cookies during the holidays is one of my favorite traditions. But... Petroleum?
I scoured the internet for recipes for natural food dye (and there were TONS). Some were simple, some complex, some ridiculous, and some that were EXPENSIVE!
I tried ALL of them (not fun, not cheap). Not recommended.
Making green dye was pretty easy. I tried store-bought (natural) food coloring, chlorophyll drops, and spinach. My favorite is easily the chlorophyll. It made a rich "christmas tree" green, was super simple (same as using store-bought food coloring), and had a hint of a minty taste. Prefer no flavor? Spinach is the way to go.. I know it sounds awful, but you can't taste it.. promise!
The red's were much trickier. As you can see below, the store-bought version turned a hideous cinnamon shade!
I became borderline obsessed with making a true red. I'm going to level with you.. not going to happen (using natural ingredients). Of all my trials, beets were my favorite since they made the closest to a true red color. Note.. Joe later pointed out to me that store-bought artificial red coloring doesn't create a true red either.. touché).
UPDATE: After posting, I gave India Tree's Original Nature's Color Decorating Set a try. By adding a little yellow in with the red dye I got a color that was pretty good (I replaced the cookie photos on this page with cookies that were iced with frosting from this set to give you an idea about color). The set was pricy, around $18.00, but unlike a lot of other natural food dyes, it came in packaging similar to traditional food coloring instead of one-use bags. I don't bake often, so I think it will last a good amount of time.
One thing to mention, while the cookies were originally beautiful, they did oxidize and become a little discolored the following day. No big deal for me, but I'm wasn't making cookies for an event or a client:)
Since it is my firm belief that nobody should EVER have to go through the expense, mess, or sugar high of testing 1,346 different methods of turning icing red and green I documented it all and turned it into a convenient downloadable PDF. I photographed each final product, listed the positives/negatives, and provided all 6 recipes and the price for each method. Want it?? Just enter your info in the box below so I know where to send it and get to baking (sans the tar)!
Not feeling $18.00 food coloring??? Don't want to research?? Just want to take my word for it? Go for Chlorophyll and Beets for your red and green frosting needs this year. Here's the recipes ...
Print
How To Make Natural Food Coloring for Christmas Baking
- Prep Time: 2 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 47 minutes
Description
Avoid all the toxic and unnecessary junk found in traditional food dyes by using natural homemade food coloring that is really simple to make at home!
Ingredients
- 1 bottle chorophyll drops
- 3 beets
Instructions
- GREEN: Use dropper to placed desired amount of chlorophyll into frosting. Mix. The more drops you add the darker the frosting will become in color.
- Red: Trim and roughly chop beets. Place beets in a medium pot and cover with cold water. Heat over medium high heat until mixture begins to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow beets to simmer uncovered until only about ¼ cup of liquid remains. Remove pot from heat and discard "beet pieces." Replace the liquid in your frosting or cake mix with "beet dye."
Helpful Hints:
- I found chlorophyll drops in the health/supplement section of my local whole foods. The bottle was about 11 dollars, but it will last A LONG TIME since you only use 3-5 drops each time you make frosting.
- I may be the only person in the universe that doesn't know this, but not all beets are red on the inside! Make sure to get the right variety...
- If you go for the store-bought method, I definitely recommend India Tree's Original Nature's Color Decorating Set . Please note that it is not the "store-bought dye" pictured on the downloadable printable or the food color samples on this post (the cookie's in the pics were decoreated with it though!). It was a late addition 🙂
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janis harper says
Thanks.
★★★★★
Bailey Sissom says
You are so welcome Janis! I hope that you find the printable useful!
Cookee says
Thanks for all your colour testing!
Bailey Sissom says
I'm glad you found it helpful!
Karinna says
This was so helpful! I am allergic to artificial food dyes so I am always looking for alternatives.
Bailey Sissom says
I'm so glad you found it useful:)
Desire Franco says
Have you tried using red cabbage? I made fermented red cabbage and see most of the colour ending up in the slightly salty water mixture. I've been looking for a better option (than beets) for colouring aubergine strips. Many years ago a small deli in Cape town made a beautiful purplish coloured aubergine salad. I've tried using beets but no success. Also I find that salt draws the colour out instead of preserving the colour. Do you have any advice for purple?
Bailey Sissom says
Hey Desire. You sound much more advanced in food coloring than me!! I haven't made purple before and also haven't tried red cabbage. If you do.. let us know how it goes!
J N says
Food Science class is coming in handy.😊 Boiling red cabbage makes the stock purple. Adding vinegar makes the stock pink and adding baking soda makes it blue green. Ok, you can't apply all of those to food coloring for icing because the flavor will be affected but you can experiment. I bet it would work for dying Easter eggs.
Angela C. says
I read that blueberries will make purple food coloring.
Rosella says
I am so curious whether you had tried pomegranate juice or a reduced pomegranate juice for red? What was the result with it?
I also saw a picture where someone used beet powder which created a very red color. No idea how it tastes. And then at a store today, I saw this packet called MacroLife Naturals Miracle Reds superior single serving portion made of goji, pomegranate, acai, and mangosteen. It was less than $2 compared to something like $13 for the beet powder. So I plan to try the buttercream frosting recipe with the Miracle Reds first and if it is a success and it tastes alright, I will return the beet powder! Either way, I will update you on how mine turns out. Doesn't hurt to share info especially when natural alternatives are so sparse.
Does the beet juice cause the frosting to taste earthy or did it have no bearing on the flavor?